The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1887-01-05
Soldiers Superstitions.

them now, but We once accepted anu
pinned our faith to them.
The first instance to come under my
,Rrvation was of Gaines Mill. / WAS
.,derying with an Alabama regiment,
We we4e morning of the day on which
csrnn tirsssking our coffee at the early
comr,de 'ssaerd s sort Of groan from
I noticed that ~ :. | turned TO look at him
coffee pot with kas staring INTO ms
while his face was d94shing like terror,
! What Is it p l askess is'ie-
! ." / shall be killed to-da
ed ne sro-in-
Fudge We don't know tin
single musket viii be fred en-
dreamed last night" he whisn
that looked down upon a sheet
water whose surface was covered win
bubbles, and amidst them saw my owr
dead face. shall be shot before night
ridiculed the idea and brought VI
Others 10 assist me. bat the only reply e,
our raillery was sad shake Of the head
He was a believer in dreams and he Ger.
tainly felt that his last day had come. In
place Of eating his breakfast he s-tibbled
off a letter to his mother and intru.ted il
10 a comrade In a little time We got
the order to march, and before noon INV
regiment was thrown forward % uncover
a portion Of the Federal line. The frs,
missile sent at u was a solid shot from A
field piece, and it struck the young sol
der IN the chest and cut him fairly in
two without injuring a another man.
Not another man was even wounded for
the next ten minutes.
The night before Burnside crossed al
Fredericksburg, a second lieutenant in
Virginia regiment received. with hun
dreds Of others, some mail from the regi-
mental bag. carried the pack of TWEEN
ty or thirty letters over TO the officers
quarters and handed it 10 this lieutenant.
The top letter was for him, and on one
end Of the envelope was a red stain. Il
looked Ike blood He no sooner saw IL
than he became greatly affected. and
said
shall be the first officer out Of the
regiment killed tomorrow.
heard a dozen officers ridicuIing him.
but he became silent and serious and
finally walked away By himself We
were down on the right, where the first
Federal attack was made. Our .giment
was using long and deep land furrow
as d fie pit. and the advancing line OF
blue had JUS come within range, when .
bullet struck the lieutenant in the head
and killed him instantly. It came from
the front, and was probably from some
sharpshooter, but it was afterward agreed
that the officer who was killed was per
haps the least exposed Of any.
There was a superstition in my regi-
ment that any one who went into battle
with the foot Of rabit tied around hi-
neck was safe. This was All right and
RABBITS feet were high premium for two OF
three weeks. Ny brigade was then push
ed ahead on a reconnaissance. bumped
up against the Yanks, and We not only
got severely thrashed, but we lost a good
many men. out Of seventy men in my
company presume that thirty had the
talismen- 1t - happened that the three
belonged TO this 'lucky" >et and the next
day rabbits feet took = decided fall in
price.
7 was for time & brieadier's orderly.
His superstition Was that he wauld be
safe from bullets a. long a. ne rode a
chestnut horse. In the first battle into
whica | followed him hi chestnut Was
shot. and, Of course, ] -' hustled 70 bring
him up another. Mine WIS 8 coal black,
and the only one which | could get for
him was d roam. He didn't seem to no.
Tee the difference until the action Wa
over, and then l got ii terrible rating. In
the second battle ne had chestnut, and
even before our line came under FIRE a
bullet crippled the horse ami another hit
my superstitiOus General in the thigh
aud left him 70 limp through life on a
short leg. personally knew other Off
Gers who felt safe on roans. bays. blacks,
and even whites. but they sooner or later
discovered that they had pinned their
faith to rule which had exceptions.
remember that Just before Grant At
ttcked Lee in the Wilderness. and while
! was AT brigade headquarters. a hen. u
v which there was large iiock about the
yard, scratched mp a steel butto D. i ser
geant of cavalry At once dismounted and
secursi it, and when ! asked what use he
could put il To, he replied
Il viii drop It into the ear Of my Co
loneI'- horse just before battle and no
harm viii come to either of them
But what fetish can there b. in a
steel button
ON. it isn't 20 much in the button as
in the hen scratching it up before my
ewes.
But why not try II in you- own
horses ear and take care Of YOURSELF"
To be lucky it must be given to some
body else.
l laughed at him, and he got 50 mad
that we nearly came to blows. met
him week later, having a sabre cut on
his head. and asked him now the fetish
worked
Must have been Growing hen which
scratched It up, ne replied- The Colo
mel and twenty Of our men were killed
the day after I saw YOU